End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund President Tiffany Muller released the following statement on the U.S. House introducing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act:
“In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 during a critical moment in our nation when Jim Crow laws were being used to prevent Black Americans from exercising their fundamental right to vote. Since then, the Voting Rights Act has been gutted by a right-wing Supreme Court and partisan Republican-led legislatures have moved once again to take away that right. We’ve seen 400 bills introduced nationwide that include restrictive voting proposals with 30 of these bills becoming law in 18 states just this year alone.
“The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is a fundamental step in protecting our freedom to vote by fully restoring the power of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and ensuring that any changes to voting rules could not discriminate against voters based on race and that we all have an equal voice in our democracy.
“From his historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, to his decades of fighting for voting rights and social justice, Congressman John Lewis never gave up in the pursuit of America adhering to its core values and principles–that every American citizen should be heard and have a voice. Congress must honor his legacy by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act to protect access to the ballot and ensure that our democracy is truly representative of the American people.”
###